Democratic state Rep.Jon Rosenthal has won the race for Texas railroad commissioner, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Bo French, who faced widespread backlash in his own party and beyond for anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and antisemitic comments.Rosenthal will be one of three members of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas production in the state.
Members serve six-year terms.Rosenthal, a mechanical engineer, campaigned on a platform of lowering energy costs for Texans, implementing guardrails for data centers and weatherization requirements for gas production, and banning industry donations to commissioners.He has served in the state House since 2019, representing the north-central region of Houston.Now, he joins a new slate of incoming Democratic officeholders, including Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa and Sen.-elect James Talarico.Bo French campaigns in San Antonio last month.Christopher Lee / Bloomberg via GettyFrench, the former Tarrant County Republican Party chair, had a history of making discriminatory remarks, including one that made national news in the middle of the campaign.He drew significant criticism in September after he posted an image on X of students from the University of Texas, some of whom appeared to be South Asian or Indian.
He wrote: “I heard UT graduation this year looked like this.I didn’t believe it.
The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.”Hours later, he reposted the same photo and cited it as an example showing that “Americans have been displaced by foreigners.”The remarks were met with strong condemnation from prominent Texas Republicans.Sen.John Cornyn said he wouldn’t vote for French.
Karl Rove, the longtime GOP consultant and former adviser to President George W.Bush, said not only that he wouldn’t vote for French, but also that he would vote for Rosenthal, instead.
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, another Republican, endorsed Rosenthal ahead of the election.“The Texas Ra...